The effect of leadership styles of headteachers of public basic schools on students academic performance in Mpasatia Circuit of Atwima Mponua District of Ashanti Region

Abstract

The purpose, of the study was to investigate the effect of leadership styles of headteachers of public basic school on the academic performance of students at Mpasatia Circuit of Atwima Mponua District of Ashanti Region. The instruments used to gather data for the study was questionnaire. In all, one hundred and ninety one (191) respondents were sampled, consisting of nine (9) headteachers, ninety two (92) Teachers, fifty-four (54) students and thirty-six (36) parent teacher association (PTA) and school management committee (SMC). Management Committee (SMC).The simple random sampling technique and purposive sampling procedure were used. The research design adopted for the study was descriptive. The test –retest reliability which assess the degree to which the test scores are consistent from one test administration to the next was used to ascertain the reliability. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presents in table with frequencies and percentages to answer the research question. Closed ended questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. In order to eliminate errors in the data entry, all data were re-entered through the Epi-Info software interface. The results were also subjected to cross tabulations to bring out details of the results in relation to the independent variable (leadership styles). The study found out that, the democratic and transformational leadership styles were the main styles of leadership that headteachers employed to ensure improvement in academic performance of students as they gave room for stakeholder, such as Teachers, Parents, School Management Committee (SMC) and students to contribute to the decision making and embrace set goals of the school. The major recommendations were that headteachers should be equipped with knowledge and skills in leadership practice, therefore College of Education institutions should incorporate into their curriculum, training in the art and science of leadership in order to groom leaders right from school.